Poll: Best garlic for taste AND storage?
kr222
15 years ago
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gardenguyvt
15 years agokr222
15 years agoRelated Discussions
Apple taste test results?
Comments (12)Apple tastings will not give you any information as to what is the best apple, because each apple reaches its prime at a different time. That's the whole beauty of growing backyard fruit: you get to pick and eat the apples just when they reach their highest potential, at which point each one in its own right would win a taste test hands down against any competitor that isn't at its prime. As far as choosing the right variety for your garden is concerned, there again, fruit tastings are not useful, because soil, micro-climate and the growing season weather all have an effect on the quality and flavor. Because apples loose most of their fragrance in commercial 33F storage conditions, and because they're often picked several weeks before they reach their prime (this is done yet again to improve their shelf-life) you also cannot judge an apple from the way it tastes when you buy it at the store or even often at local farmers markets where apples are stored in cold conditions. Of course, different apples respond differently to cold storage, some are better at retaining good quality. Cameo is generally horrible when bought at the store, but a tree-ripened cameo eaten after just the right amount of "natural" 45-55F storage will taste amazingly good. As a rule of thumb, the later the apple ripens, the higher the quality will be. Some speculate the reason for this is that as the leaves turn, the nutrients from the leaves find their way into the apples. So for example, an Akero ripening in mid-September in Northern Sweden just as the first frosts show up are of much higher quality and have much longer storing properties than an Akero ripening in August in California. In California where I live, the best apples are those that finish off ripening on the tree all the way into January and even Febuary. For example, Granny Smith, an apple that stays green and at best has culinary appeal when grown in Northern latitude reaches its prime table eating quality when it turns bright yellow in late January. At that time, it tastes like a cross in between a fully ripened pink lady and a golden delicious, a most exquisite apple that rivals any other apple out there. The reason is that it ripens when the leaves finally fall off (January in most of sea-level California) and when there is a good chance of light frosts at night. Other apples which are far too tannic to win a taste test but reach their prime in Febuary includes Lady Williams and a number of the Etter selections. However, personally, I still love Summer apples - they have a very small window of good quality that you have to hit just right - that window is sandwiched in between too much astringency on one end and the apple going mealy on the other end. For a really early apple like yellow transparent, that window is sometimes just a few hours, or maybe a day or two at most. When you hit an apple like that just right, it's down right heavenly and could win a taste test down right. For example, I just picked "yellow transparent" apples last night, and I let them sit on the counter until this afternoon. This afternoon, they are 100% perfect, the right balance of sweetness and acidity, still nice and crunchy, and downright awesome and yummy and refreshing. Another six hours and they'd be going mealy, good maybe for baking or the chickens. But they're worth it for that small 6 hour window. That's part of the fun. How do I know when they're at their peak? I smell them, as the aroma will peak when they're just right. The beauty and fun of backyard apple growing is that each apple is a 100% unique flavor, completely dependant on when it is picked and what the weather was like, and the types of feeding it got. Yes, this is the total opposite of what commercial growers try to do - a homogenized, repeatable but bland experience of eating an apple that is usually more reminiscent of eating cardboard. The truth is that each apple is like a fine wine: it's going to taste different each time, and when treated right, aged properly, and consumed at just the right time, then it can be an earth shattering experience. My advice to anyone wanting to grow their own apples: experiment with a lot of varieties. Learn to graft and try out grafting many different varieties to find the one that suits your taste buds the best. You will be handsomely rewarded. I have Rhode Island Greening, now that is one heck of an amazing apple. My all time favorite through has to be Pink Lady. A good home grown Gala or jonagold will knock your socks off, but a store bought one may leave you wondering how anyone can eat apples that taste like cardboard. I can't over-emphasize how much of an impact the surroundings of a tree can have. For example, Cox Orange Pippin is notoriously difficult to grow. Out here in California, this tree is best grown with 100% afternoon shade, otherwise the fruits are of very poor quality. Finally, there's the whole issue of disease resistance. But why care about that for a backyard apple? Unless you have commercial ambitions, who cares what the apple looks like. Apple disease susceptibility should not be the primary factor in selecting a backyard tree. In the backyard, imperfection is not only acceptable, it's desirable. On an interesting note, Cox Orange Pippin wood has viruses, yet these very viruses give the fruit more flavor. Here in California, Dave Wilson had the viruses removed from the Cox Orange Pippin (a laboratory procedure) and the resulting trees bear fruit of far inferior quality than the original virus infected Cox orange pippin. The bottom line is that backyard apple growing is not a factory practice, it's a real art form - it should be a fun and unique experience. Your apples will be special and different from everyone else's apples. I'll get off my soap box for now - I'd love to hear other's experiences of the best tasting apples they have ever eaten....See MoreStorage of Hardneck Garlic
Comments (7)I never bring my garlic in except for enough to last a week or so. Most years I throw them in flower pots and put them in an open shed, but it seemed the ground was too damp, the bottom ones would sprout. So this past fall I tied the stalks in bundles, (I only have hardneck) liek you do for strings of chilis. They kept much better that way, but I have collected a bunch of onion bags and plan to hang them up that way as from time to time a bunch would slip out of the string and get damp on the ground. We hit 10 degrees for a low 3X last winter. I figure, if it doesn't hurt them in the ground, it won't hurt them hanging up. And because their metabolism is so slow in cold weather, I expect they keep better than they would indoors. To compare to your storage method, most of mine now have a short green sprout, less than 1/2, a few have not sprouted at all or have only maybe 1/8" of green showing. How are your rocamboles doing that have been stored indoors? Oh, and none are dried out except those that were actually damaged in harvest....See MoreBest way to store whole cloves of garlic?
Comments (24)If you grow your own you can use the green garlic [looks sort of like a green onion] same as the cloves. If you want to try green garlic, this fall plant whole heads of garlic about 3-4 inches deep [anywhere, even in your flower area] and next Spring you'll get several stalks coming up in a bunch [as many plants as there was cloves]. As you need them, dig down beside the bunch and pull the plants away and recover hole with soil. Green garlic tastes the same as regular garlic cloves, just milder. You folks in the milder areas should have it ready for harvest this winter. You'll never regret growing green garlic. Soft neck [like at the store] or hard neck will work....See MoreBest garlic for zone 7
Comments (2)You probably have the largest selection of possibilities in your zone, as it is borderline. Dave is correct, except that softnecks are known for storing longer, and hardnecks have larger cloves. I think that may be a typo. For instance my Music and Russian Red last year have 4-6 very large cloves per bulb. Softnecks have more cloves per bulb, but many are small and difficult to use - the hardnecks don't have that tiny ring of bulbs in the middle. Softnecks are your standard grocery store fare... and that's how they were bred... to be grown as a cash crop in warmer areas. For me, hardnecks are the only way to go, even if they didn't grow best here. They have larger easier to peel cloves, are generally bigger overall, taste more complex, and have delicious scapes. See https://njaes.rutgers.edu/pubs/fs1233/ There is a good allium forum on Gardenweb you should visit....See Morebloosquall
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